Agri-Pulse Daybreak for July 19, 2016

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2016 - The Republican Party today will
look to turn the page from a tumultuous first day of the GOP convention in
Cleveland. The opening day that was dominated by images of rebellious delegates
unsuccessfully demanding a roll call vote on the party rules. Supporters of
Donald Trump quashed the vote by reportedly persuading several states, to
withdraw petitions, but it was hardly the display of unity that the candidate
wanted and needed.

Behind the scenes, an effort has been quietly developing to
build support for Trump among farmers and ranchers. Charles Herbster, a leading
Angus cattle breeder from Nebraska, has been leading the effort to organize
agribusiness leaders behind Trump. In June, Herbster was involved in setting up
a meeting between Trump and hundreds of evangelical Christian leaders. Herbster
will be in Cleveland for an agribusiness luncheon on the sidelines of the GOP
convention.

The Trump campaign has yet to release any details of the
organizational effort. But Iowa farmer Annette Sweeney, who co-chaired a
pro-ethanol campaign ahead of her state’s presidential caucuses, tells Agri-Pulse that
there is an “impressive agriculture movement” in the works for Trump.

Trump pressed on trade. Sweeney, who has praised
Trump’s responsiveness to the ethanol industry’s priorities early in his
campaign, says she and others in agribusiness have conveyed their concerns to
the campaign about Trump’s criticism of U.S. trade policy. Sweeney says that both
Republicans and Democrats need to consider the impact on agriculture of failing
to implement the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who was in Cleveland for the
opening of the convention, tells Agri-Pulse that he sees Trump’s threats
to impose tariffs on China as a negotiating tool. And Grassley doesn’t think
the Trans-Pacific Partnership is dead under a Trump presidency. Hillary Clinton
has said she wants to renegotiate parts of the agreement, and Trump could do
that, too, Grassley says. “If he can do that and get something better than what
we have, I’d say, ‘Praise the Lord’,” Grassley said.

Grassley says Trump will be better than Hillary Clinton for
agriculture because he’ll push the annual ethanol mandates higher than she
will.

GOP platform attacks Obama regs. The new Republican
Party platform includes
an extensive section on agriculture that attacks the administration on
regulatory issues, especially the EPA’s “waters of the U.S.” rule. “This
regulatory impulse must be curbed, not on a case-by-case basis, but through a
fundamental restructuring of the regulatory process,” the platform says.

The document also says it took long to pass the 2014 farm
bill because of what the platform calls Democratic efforts to expand the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Young delegate: Get government off farmers’ backs. There
are a few delegates and alternates in Cleveland who have first-hand knowledge
of the challenges agriculture faces. One of them is 19-year-old Westhenry
Ioerger (pronounced YOR-ger), an alternate delegate from Iowa. Ioerger told Agri-Pulse’s Spencer
Chase that government agencies “are really making it hard for us farmers and
people in agriculture to do what’s best and that’s feed the world.”

To see the whole interview, go to agri-pulse.com. Check back this week for
interviews with delegates from California and Texas.

Battle over higher ethanol blends intensifies. Ethanol
is also one of the big issues on the minds of members of the National Corn
Growers Association. They’re in Washington this week for their annual Corn
Congress and visits to congressional staff.

Yesterday, a corn growers action committee received updates
from Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association and the American Coalition
for Ethanol on a wide variety of market development efforts. Another action
team, on trade policy and biotechnology, heard from Darci Vetter, the chief
agricultural negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative, on the importance of
the TPP and how Brexit will affect the T-TIP negotiations with the EU.

Food security a priority for Mrs. Biden’s Africa trip. Food
security is one of the issues that Jill Biden is expected to take up during her
three-day visit to the African nation of Malawi. The wife of Vice President Joe
Biden arrived in the country’s commercial capital Blantyre yesterday. She’s
expected to visit areas affected by drought and to discuss health and education,
among other issues.

USDA part of Vienna climate discussions. USDA
representatives are included in the U.S. delegation to an important climate
change meeting later this week in Vienna. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is
heading the delegation to the “Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties to the
Montreal Protocol.” The protocol is a global agreement to protect the
stratospheric ozone layer through measures to control production and
consumption of ozone-depleting substances.

He said it – “One of the main issues to me in
agriculture is getting the government to … draw back form their almost
oppressive regulations that they’re hamming us with.” - Westhenry Ioerger, an
alternate GOP delegate whose family grows corn and soybeans near Alden, Iowa.

This week’s guest on Open Mic is Ken Dallmier, President and COO of Clarkson Grain Company. While the global grain business is dominated by supply, demand and now trade wars, this Illinois-based company functions under a customer-focused mindset. Dallmier says this generation of consumer demand is dominated by a different set of social values leading to questions over the way food is produced and the prices they’re willing to pay. Sustainability, organic and non-GMO are providing farmers an income stream isolated from traditional market forces.

Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Environmental Protection Agency Acting Administrator of the Andrew Wheeler recently announced their intent to reassess and correct the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards.

The world of agriculture extends beyond what’s growing in your field or living in your barn, and here at Agri-Pulse, we understand that. We make it our duty to inform you of the most up-to-date agricultural and rural policy decisions being made in Washington D.C. and examine how they will affect you – the farmer, the lobbyist, the government employee, the educator, the consultant and the concerned citizen.